From Mount Isa to Tennants Creek

I am really confused because two pages dropped out of my book and this may be slightly out of order. This is one of the loose pages and covers the journey after we left Mount Isa and headed for Camooweal.

It is Sunday morning, 8th June. We headed out of Mount Isa for the fourth time. Francine and Francoise are off on the mine tour and then heading for Cloncurry. (They are a crazy pair of 70 year olds from Adelaide, but Paris and Brittany originally. She is an outrageous flirt but quite funny too. How he copes, I do not know but he obviously likes being kept on his toes.) We, on the other hand are powering up the Barkly Highway to Camooweal then on to Tennants Creek. As it is the 'long weekend' to celebrate the Queen's birthday! We don't even do that in England! There seem to be only caravans on the road and, as it is open, that is not a problem. Spinifex and red soil are the order of the day. The sky is light grey and it is raining. I am pleased because the red dust is every where. I pondered on last night's karoke, which we swore we would not go to. We sang our socks off and waved the neon strips that Francoise got from his caravan. They are still glowing. The road warning said,'Beware: stock on the road, Flooding and Trucks over 50 mtrs long!

It is 470 to Tennants Creek,1464 to Darwin and 450 to 3 Ways. We have 360 degrees view of grass and scrubland. The rain has stopped and we have passed two road-trains already. The kangaroos that have died in the night are scattwered around like skittles. There is even a cow carcass, evidence of earlier road-kill!There is a camel thoughfully chewing in the field alongside the road. The sky/land ratio is 60/40 and there is nothing to see but low grass. We turn onto 'The Overlanders Way'. It is like driving on a perspective sketch. Barkly Homestead is 242km-a two hour drive for us. Another cow has met his maker. To break the monotony we have a beastie feast of crisps followed by a few squares of chocolate. A long line of cows move along the field fence and a happy waving motorcyclist passes by. The road sign now declares that the road-trains are in fact 53.5 meters long. You need a lot of space for overtaking. We pass 'Shakespeare Creek'.

(Pictures to include=the Camooweal kangaroo and road distances,the view through the window.

At Barkly Homestead the petrol is $205 per litre. Should be 139!!!!!More surprises, half hour time difference. God!!How many flies??? I put my net over my hat so that I do not feel silly!! I gulp my food in order not to eat a fly too. Yuk. I find this totally exasperating. I am not relaxed eating like this and it is very strange to have to head for your neck, to get under the elasticated net, instead of your mouth. I sprayed myself with, 'Bushman' fly deterrant and bounced my flip-flop at a local harrassing bird. Suddenly, loud,awful country music came from one of the box-like cabins. We decided to move on to Tennants Creek.

When we booked into Tennants Creek campsite for the night I noticed the posters showing local snakes! Nice! After 750 kms I do not want to run into them! I am glad that it is only 506kms to Alice Springs. In the camp shop Lee shows me 'Canned Kookaburra' and 'Tinned Echidna'. I am disgusted until I realise that it is a joke!

In the morning we disagree about how to make omelettes. We rarely argue so we must be getting tired. It certainly is a long haul. We are also aware that we have to repeat this leg of the journey when we return north, to Darwin. There is a nice moment when we pull up to the drive to leave. I noticed an Aboriginal man step ou t but when he saw us he jumped back. We calmly waited for him to cross as he got there first. He peered at us and we motioned for him to cross and smiled. He looked incredulous. As we pulled out he gave us a respectful wave and beaming smile. We waved back. We stopped at the huge round boulders, ten feet high, that lay scattered around, called 'The Devil's Marbles. They are strange because they lie on flat land. As we rejoin the main highway and head off to Alice Springs I notice another dead cow lying on the highway. The sky is heavy with cloud and the persistant flies buzz in my ears. Passing van drivers give funny waves and there are flocks of very tiny birds darting around. I still have not seen budgerigars in the wild though. It is 29kms to Alice and a road sign declares that we are in a restricted alcohol zone. We cross southward back over the Tropic of Capricorn.